"Immediately after the first abortion, I felt something was gone from my life. I felt I had done something wrong, and that confused me. I was a liberated woman, who made a decision that was supposed to liberate me." Malinda's testimony at the 2017 March for Life in Ottawa

Hello and welcome. My name is Malinda Tibbetts, and I am the Silent No More representative for Ottawa, Canada.

My first abortion was at age 19 and the second at 21. I was unstable, uniformed, and easily influenced young woman. I trusted what newspapers, magazines, and television said about abortion. Abortion was freedom for a woman. We were told that a fetus was just a lump of flesh, and we decided when that lump of flesh became a life. It all was quite convenient for a nineteen-year-old girl who seemed stuck with a pregnancy. The government and medical profession made abortion so accessible and free. Why should I not have one then? I was led to believe that it would be stupid of me to have a baby at my age and in my situation. Sound familiar? You see, I wasn’t stupid. I just didn’t know God, and I didn’t know what God could do in a person’s life. All I had was my own reasoning. There was no one telling me to rethink or look at other options. Nobody talked about responsibility or consequences. I made uninformed decisions to not go through with these pregnancies. Within a week I would not be pregnant anymore therefore, it didn’t matter. Or so I thought, because here I am now forty years later coming to terms with those decisions.

These days I remember what Jesus said on the cross, “Forgive them Father; they know not what they do”. I did not know what I was doing. Had I known half of what I know now about right and wrong I would not have made such decisions. It’s taken almost forty years to forgive myself, but you know when God forgave me? He forgave me over two thousand years ago when Jesus allowed Himself to be nailed on that cross for me and because of that I have learned to forgive myself and can see myself through God’s eyes.

I want to help men and women heal from abortion. I want to inform people that abortion is a violation of human rights, that there are other options, and about the big business abortion has become. I want to help people to make a decision to choose life. I want to help you to know that if you have had an abortion or have been affected by abortion, that healing is possible. That is why I cannot be silent no more. Please feel free to contact me and know that our discussions will be kept confidential.